Dudutech

Based at the KEFRI research facility outside Nairobi is a company that has revolutionised crop protection in Africa. Now employing in excess of 180 scientists and production staff..

Dudutech


Dudutech is headed up by Henry Limb and one of the leading world authorities on integrated pest management, Dr Luciano Rovesti. Flamingo has identified the four biggest problems in their growing operations to be thrips, red spider mite, rootknot nematode and leaf miner, and is concentrating on commercial solutions for these problems.To date, major success has been with red spider mite reduction, previously controlled with toxic acaracides.
With the help of visiting experts, such as entomologist Dr Jude Bennison, Dudutech are constantly expanding their knowledge base. Dr Jude Bennison: “We have been doing some training on thrip’s recognition and biology and behaviour, because that helps us understand how to target them best in our control measures. The training I’m doing is funded by the EU; it’s an initiative called ‘PIP’”.
Each farm has a number of highly-trained personnel whose responsibility it is to search out pests, evaluate whether they are suitable for IPM, and recommend the appropriate treatment. Catherine Musangi, Technical Liaison Officer: “We found out that there were a few white flies and a few leaf miners. We are going to administer IPM, that is we are going to use the Dudutech products for white flies and we are going to release some Encarsia, and for leaf miners we are going to release Diglyphus. The advantage of using IPM is that IPM is safe for the operators, the people who are working there, and it is also safe for the consumers who are going to use the product”.
Flowers are also prone to soil and airborne infestations that need to be managed by Dudutech. Craig Oulton, Farm Manager: “Our biggest pest that we do get is spider mite, and it at certain times of year, especially when it’s hot, it can actually ravage a crop, almost bringing 20% to 30% reject. Dudutech do scouting for us and then they will introduce phytoselius, which is the predetary mite. It is, I would say, 100% successful. Our acarcide use has gone down by 80% to 90%”.
All the predatory bugs used to treat spider mite and leaf miner are harvested on the purpose-built production facilities at Naivasha and Mount Kenya, as Dudutech Manager, Henry Limb, explains.
Henry Limb: “Homegrown has expanded vastly over the last couple of years, and Dudutech has had to keep up with that expansion. So, this year we have put in an extra five hectares, taking our total of nine hectares of bug production facilities, which should yield 60 million bugs on a weekly basis”.
Each week, Homegrown produces 400 tons of product, and has been able to reduce significantly the amount of chemicals it sprays on its crops, managing to eliminate all the most toxic chemicals. Indeed, the use of IPM has reduced their use to such a low level that in some crops they are redundant.
Dudutech and Flamingo Holdings are at the forefront of large-scale commercial crop protection and are able to create a farming model which is safer for the environment, the workers and the consumers.